Issue 1 August 2020 In this issue 1 SIXTY BOOKS since our Humble Beginnings in 2013. 2 PARTNERING with Print On Demand 2 WRITE-ON PUBLISHING Welcomes Alison Bosman. 4 NEW SERVICES AND FACILITIES 4 THE TAKEALOT OPTION 5 EBOOKS VS PRINT BOOKS 6 A SELF-PUBLISHING SALES STRATEGY 7 YOU ARE INVITED to List Your Books on our Indie eBookshop 8 COMING SOON! The IndieBookshelf 8 AFFORDABLE COLOUR PRINTING Sixty+ Books since our humble beginnings in 2013 S elf-publishing facilitator Write-On Publishing of St Francis Bay, has recently recorded yet another important milestone - 60 books produced under the dual imprints, Write-On Publishing and SA Catholic Online Books, since very humble beginings in 2013. The first book produced by SA Catholic Online in 2013 was what we would today call a “chapbook”. It was a small, 60-page collection of short stories called “Via Dolorosa”, written by then St Francis Bay poet and author, June Ann Jansen. The stories were fictional accounts by “eye-witnesses” of the events around the Passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. “Via Dolorosa” was followed in 2013/14 by a seven-book series by Johannesburg Catholic lay theologian Michael Mahony called the “One of Us” collection. This series of books represented an incredible editing and typographical challenge and learning curve to fledgling editor and Adobe Indesign typographer, Frank Nunan - interlinear Greek and English text, Hebrew text, complicated tables and graphics, endnotes, and much more! These books were all produced within a two-year period. August 2020 - Write-On News The initial focus was on Catholic books, and there followed a string of books by priests, a deacon and lay Catholics, crowned by the production of a book for Archbishop Buti Tlhagale OMI “Pastoral Letters on Mary and Matters Ancestral”. An article in the Catholic weekly newspaper called us “The Priest’s Publisher”! Secular books - Write-On Early in 2017, a decision was made to broaden operations into the secular sector, and Write-On Publishing was born. The first book under this imprint was also by a local St Francis Bay author, Mike Silberbauer, for whom we published “Secrets of a Walking Stick”, a collection of whimsical reflections on “life in the Village.” This was immediately followed by his second book “A Cottage in St Francis Bay”. Mike was so happy with the results that he had no hesitation in referring Write-On to renowned author of Eastern Cape travel and history books, Bartle Logie. Bart’s previous publisher had retired and he was agreeably surprised to find a replacement right on his doorstep in St Francis Bay. The association with Bart is on-going and has resulted in the publication of two books, “Toasted MarshmalContinued on Page 3 1
PARTNERING WITH PRINT ON DEMAND Print On Demand (POD) is a Cape Town-based digital printing company which is one of the most progressive and innovative companies in its field in South Africa. The company was launched a short five years ago by its current CEO Tertius van Eeden, and has grown exponentially since then. It was awarded a Bronze medal for innovation in the annual GAPP Awards, South Africa’s “Oscars” for the printing industry, in 2018 – just three years after the company’s inception. ness process, which Tertius van Eeden calls the “Book of One” philosophy, in which copies of books and other printed matter are not printed until an order is received, allowing prints of single copies or small quantities to be undertaken. This has been made possible by the advent of digital print technologies. This process was to a large extent perfected and popularised by eCommerce giant Amazon, which remains one of the few companies worldwide to offer it successfully. POD (the comWrite-On Publishing Welcomes Alison Bosman Hear what Tertius van Eeden thinks about how the market for digital books is evolving and accelerating and how he differentiates to compete, with support from Xerox technologies. Click on his picture to watch the interview. SA Catholic Online Books was one of the company’s very earliest customers in 2015 and this partnership has endured and prospered over the past five years – we consider ourselves, and are treated as such, part of the POD family. The company takes its name from the printing technology and busipany – not the process!) has been building towards this model for a number of years now, and, realising it does not have the muscle to do so itself, has entered into some strategic partnerships to fast track the process, providing unique benefits and opportunities for self-published authors in South Africa. The relationship that SA Catholic Online Books and Write-On Publishing has with POD puts us in a position to offer our author customers some unique benefits, as will be seen 2 Write-On Publishing and SA Catholic Online Books are pleased to announce a 100% increase in their human resources – from one person (me) to two! I welcome Alison Bosman to this extremely small family as a proofreader and associate editor. Alison has a BSc (Hons) degree in zoology and botany from UCT; a PhD in zoology, also from UCT; a BA degree in English and psychology from UNISA; and an Honours Degree in psychology, also from UNISA She has completed two proofreading/copy-editing courses; the first through the Regent Academy in London, and the second through the South African Writers’ College. She has spent the past 20 years as a high school teacher in Namibia, South Africa and, most recently, France. She taught at Woodridge College near Thornhill, between Jeffreys Bay and Port Elizabeth, for 12 of those years. She is also the author or coauthor on 25 scientific research papers, published in a variety of scientific journals, both locally and overseas. As you can see, Alison is more than qualified for the job, and is sure to prove a very valuable addition to the team. Her academic qualifications and experience will enable us to expand our services into the academic field, with thesis editing and the publication of academic papers. August 2020 - Write-On News
“Genres published under the two imprints have included theology, religious instruction, memoirs, inspirational books, poetry, recipes, travel, books of photographs , finance, history, prayers, and even fiction!” From Page 1 lows & Obies” and “Tales from an Unmapped Country”, as well as the reissue of two older books. New Books from Old In 2018 we took a slightly different turn - the re-construction and reissue of old, out-of-print books. We were approached by the Jeffreys Bays Seashell Museum (managed by the Humansdorp Museum Association) to see if we could re-do a little book which had gone out of print: “The Sea Shells of Jeffreys Bay”. This was a tricky assignment, as the book consisted of high quality colour plates of the shells, the originals of which were not available, as well as many columns of Latin and technical names and descriptions. The book turned out so well - some said it was an improvement on the old one - that the Association later approached us to reissue “Humansdorp se Groei en Bloei”, an Afrikaans history of the town of Humansdorp. Another four “new books from old” were produced, inlcuding “Okavango Memoirs”, a re-named re-issue of the 1956 book “Always Lightly Tread” by E Cronje Wilmot, “A Taste of St Francis” - the re-issue of two little St Francis Bay recipe books from the 1990s, amalgamated into one book, and “Recipes of BeAugust 2020 - Write-On News Private Publishing Our ability to offer very short run printing and our competitive fee structure has enabled us to produce a number of books for people who wish to write books for a select, very small target audience - just family and close friends, for example. Our successes here have included private recipe books, and very personal memoirs. Foreign & Multi-Lingual Books Write-On Publishing has produced two books in French, as well as a prayer book in three languages (English, Zulu and Sotho) and a small poetry book in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. Chapbooks In 2019, WriteOn Publishing launched an initative aimed at first-time authors for the prodction of “Chapbooks”, defined as publications of up to about 48 pages, usually poetry, short stories or children’s stories. The name “Chapbook” is derived from the 16th and 17th Century when it referred to small popular leaflets and pamphlets sold by street peddlers known as “Chapmen”. Four such little books have been prodcued to date, with a number in the pipeline. Our Own Books The Bechuanaland and St Francis Bay recipe books were also our first forays into producing our own books “at risk” - that is, without a customer/author to pay fees. chuanaland”, the re-print of a 1958 community book. The final one was “Black Review 1974/75”, the re-issue of a previously banned Black Consciousness annual. December 2018 saw the launch of “Impressions of St Francis”, followed in short order by “Impressions of Jeffreys Bay” - both photographic journeys through these two seaside towns. The pictures for the books were sourced from locals and vistiors via web-based competitions. Most recently, Frank Nunan has compiled the Catholic lexicon “Do You Speak Catholic?” which gives meanings and explanations for words used in the Catholic religion. Genres Genres published under the two imprints have included theology, religious instruction, memoirs, inspirational books, poetry, recipes, travel, books of photographs, finance, history, prayers, and even fiction (“Jim is Tired of Jo’burg”). The 60th Book The 60th Book was “Cock Tales on the Kowie”, a 200 plus page book by Sue Laburn Gordon and Ed Cock, an historical documentary of 1820 Settler leader and entrepreneur William Cock - the man who moved the Kowie River to create a harbour! 3
NEW SERVICES AND FACILITIES Welcome to the NEW LOOK Write-On Publishing and SA Catholic Online Books! SA Catholic Online Books has been producing self-published books on behalf of authors since 2013, and Write-On Publishing since 2016, to a set formula – one which has been reasonably successful, with the two imprints having produced more than 60 titles to date. However, times change – witness the Coronavirus Pandemic - as does technology, and we have to adapt to these circumstances or, metaphorically speaking, perish. We have therefore restructured the way we offer services, and added some new options. The production phase has not changed a great deal. What has changed is the manner in which parts of the production will be charged for. Handling of pictures – a time-consuming process - will in future be charged as a separate line item. Very few supplied pictures arrive in a suitable condition for the printing process and each has to be digitally manipulated and enhanced. The following graphic outlines our new range of services: Here’s what some of our most recent authors had to say: Dear Frank My deepest gratitude for the good work done. I am really grateful for this contribution. Fr Blazio Manobo * * * Looks great far better than I envisaged. Well done! You are a dedicated facilitator. Doug Sutherland * * * m dti. The Takealot Option Print On Demand’s (POD) initial strategy was to create its own online bookstore to sell books on a print on demand basis, but the company quickly realised that it did not have the marketing and logistical resources to do so on a large scale. As it did not necessarily wish to develop those resources, which would be a distraction and deviation from its core business, it entered into a strategic partnership with South Africa’s own eCommerce giant, Takealot. This partnership allows POD customers to list their books on the Takealot site exactly as they would on Amazon, and books would be sold and distributed by Takealot in precisely the same way - one book produced at a time! There is a slight difference between the way Amazon operates and the POD/ Takealot operates – you can list your book on Amazon for free, but listing on Takealot is subject to a small upload fee, a monthly subscription fee and an annual market access fee. This sounds daunting but the figures are in fact so small as to be negligible. Contact us for more information in these fees should you be interested. You, the author, will receive a royalty on the sale of the book, which will be based on (a) the cost to produce the book, and (b) the retail price, which you will set. You may view of of Write-On Publishing’s own books on the Takealot site by clicking on the Takealot logo. 4 You are a fantastic proof-reader. I have been slowly going through your suggestions and corrections one at a time, and am amazed at how much I missed and how much you spotted. Thank you so much Fr Joe Falkiner OP * * * Firstly,I would like to thank you for the good work you have done in compiling my book. I’m so impressed and well pleased concerning your services. I’m also looking forward to working with you on my next book. Hlengiwe Mngadi * * * Thank you very much. Everything is perfect, I can say. Fr Benoit Djese * * * Thank you so much. I went through the edited draft you sent. I see you had a lot to do. I am very satisfied with your work. Rev Cebisa Shobede August 2020 - Write-On News
eBooks vs Print Books The Great Debate! By Frank Nunan I have always been a voracious reader. As a child, I consumed every book I could get my hands on and was probably the school library’s most consistent customer. At the age of about 11, I was severely reprimanded for attacking books on my grandmother’s bookshelf that were definitely not age-appropriate. At boarding school, I had enough books confiscated for reading in class or in the study hall to fill a small library! So it is not surprising that I find myself involved in the publishing business at this time of my life, having qualified and practiced as a journalist and editor in my younger days. I love books – I love print books. I love the feel of a book, I love it how a book falls out my hands as I am falling asleep. I love browsing through a bookshop – my wife covers my eyes when we walk a into mall and she sees a bookshop! So what about eBooks then? Well, I have resisted eBooks – they were not quite the thing for me. But I have recently started experimenting and my perspectives are changing. When they first emerged, there were dire predictions that the print book industry and bookshops and the like were doomed, but it has not turned out that way – print books survived the digital onslaught and are as popular as ever. However, eBooks have also gained enormously in popularity and the two now exist fairly comfortably side by side across the world, with most authors and book sales platforms offering both versions to the reading public. eBooks definitely have their benefits. I was stuck in a situation recently where I had to wait in a socially-distanced queue for medication. I hauled out my phone and was soon happily reading a novel, and I could have chosen to read any one of about a dozen I currently have in my online library, or if I didn’t like any of them at that moment, I could either have bought another one from Google Play Books or searched for one of the thousands of free eBooks available – all while waiting in the queue! August 2020 - Write-On News So yes, print books have their place – and they will always be close to my heart – but then so do eBooks. In this Coronavirus world, it was almost impossible in the first stages of the lockdown to get hold of new books – even the online platforms like Takealot were have not able to sell books because the couriers were not working, so one alternative is of course eBooks! On a page or on a screen? Most readers have an opinion on this subject, adamantly choosing either reading eBooks or paper books. Both options tell the same stories, but the experience of reading with either is completely different. So, the answer to the question Print vs eBook? Both are great and have their place! Oh, by the way, I also recently discovered – mainly because I hadn’t thought about it – another situation where reading an eBook had a distinct advantage. We all recently experienced a bout of loadshedding, and my response to that, previously, was to read (my solution to any stressful situation!) with the aid of a headlamp. As I had been working on my new eBookshop website, I decided to try reading an eBook on my phone. I was quite easily able to read my eBook in the dark, without needing any light at all, and with no particular strain to my eyes. The video below gives a great comparison between the two formats, and concludes that each has its place, according to the situation! Click on the graphic to start the video. 5
A Self-publishing Sales Strategy - Two Formats and Multiple Options The debate about which format is preferable- print or eBook - is actually moot from a self-publishing and independent author’s perspective. It should not be a question of Print Books vs eBooks, but really a question of how the two formats fit into your overall marketing and sales strategy, which should include both formats. For most authors, myself included, nothing beats holding your “baby” in your hands, so that is always first prize as far as Write-On Publishing and SA Catholic Online Books is concerned - the production of print books. Write-On Publishing, thanks to its partnership with Print On Demand, is now in the very fortunate position of being able to offer the self-publishing author a two-format, multiple pronged sales strategy. The Print Option The first format is and always will be print, for which we can now offer two options: 1. Bulk print Authors should have printed copies for themselves, and they make egoboosting gifts for family and friends. Most authors also have the capacity to sell, within their immediate environments, a number of books, often sufficient to cover their total initial investment in producing the books. Wider distribution of physical books becomes problematic - it requires time, investment and the logistics most authors lack, to get Indie books into mainstream bookstores and other outlets. This issue has been exacerbated by the Coronavirus Pandemic. The use of the most modern and 6 up-to-date digital printing technology allows the Write-On Publishing/ POD model to provide authors with books in relatively small numbers at prices that will enable them to recover their investment without having to print thousands of books, or price themselves out of the market. The downside of selling books personally is that it often requires considerable personal logistical and time consuming effort - packing and dispatching orders, book signings and so on. 2. Print on Demand Books - Local and International Simultaneously with early sales of printed books, authors can have their books uploaded to local and international Print On Demand platforms. (The concept of Print On Demand is explained elsewhere in this publication). These platforms are: Local - Takealot, and International - Amazon). The primary benefits of this option for the author is that there is no (or very little) up-front investment, and absolutely no logistical effort. However, authors should not fall into the trap of assuming that once the books are uploaded, you can sit back and relax, and the royalties will come streaming in. Your book will be one of approximate 19 million books on Amazon, and without providing potential readers with road signs to your books through diligent marketing, “ain’t no one gonna find it!” The same obviously applies to other platforms. This article deals with the options available, and not with a detailed marketing strategy on how best to utilise them, but there are little things that you can do. For example, the signature on every email that you send out should include the links to your sales pages on the various platforms. The eBook Option Write-On Publishing has for some time offered the Amazon Kindle option. We converted authors’ print books into the Kindle format and uploaded them to Amazon. This has really been an “add-on”, an additional service we offered to customers. However the pandemic, and the resultant increased emphasis on things digital, has prompted a new look at eBooks, especially in the local market, which has resulted in the development of our own eBook sales platform - The Indie eBookshop. Why go for eBooks at all? Well, primarily because it is a low, cost risk strategy which could create a previously untapped revenue stream, increase awareness of your work, and could actually stimulate print book sales. eBooks, or electronic books, were initially considered to be the death of the printed book. However, they have instead slipped into the book market alongside traditional books. Initially one needed a special reader device such as a Kindle Fire or Kobo in order to read eBooks, but they can now be read on just about any smart device, using any one of dozens of eBook reader apps. August 2020 - Write-On News
You are Invited. . . . . .to List your Books on Write-On Publishing and SA Catholic Online Books invite you to list your books for sale as eBooks on our new eBook sales site, The Indie eBookshop. The Indie eBookshop was developed as a response to two main a factors: 1. The lack of a dedicated sales platform for the eBooks of independent and self-published authors in South Africa; 2. The advent of the Coronavirus Pandemic, the subsequent lockdown and heightened emphasis on digital and online solutions, including the increasing popularity of eBooks. It was initially decided to create a platform for the sale of the eBook versions of the books produced by Writeon Publishing and SA Catholic Online authors. Upon request, however, this facility has been extended to any Independent or Self-published author who wishes to make use of it. Independent and/or Self-published authors may submit their books for consideration to be placed on The Indie eBookshop for sale. Once accepted, a submission and upload fee of R400 per title will be levied. The selling price of the eBook will be determined by The Indie eBookshop in consultation with the author. The proceeds of the sale of an eBook will be split on the ratio of 60/40 between the author (60%) and The Indie eBookshop (40%). Royalty Payments will be made 30 days after the month-end of the month in which the books are sold. eBooks can be sold in PDF and/or ePub versions, and The Indie eBookshop will accept either or both formats. If the author does not have the material in these formats, books may be submitted in Word format and an appropriate conversion fee will be levied, depending on the complexity of the work. This fee will be subject to a quote from The Indie eBookshop. The Indie eBookshop can, if required, also sell eBooks in the Mobi format (the format used by Kindle). Once the book is uploaded and ready for sale, you as the author can begin marketing its availability through your social media and other platforms - The Indie eBookshop will provide you with a link to your dedicated book page on the site. Just to show you how the process works, The Indie eBookshop invites to “purchase” one of our eBooks from the shop. You will get our little St Francis Bay recipe book “A Taste of St Francis” absolutely free if you apply the following coupon code to your purchase: VPBGNNE6. Look for the “HAVE A COUPON?” tab on the Checkout Page. Click HERE to “purchase” your free gift! Would you like to place your book on the shelves of our eBookshop? Click HERE to email us for more information. Some of the benefits of eBooks eBooks are increasingly popular, eBpecially now. eBooks have a global reach. You can easily distribute your book via global retailers. eBooks offer instant reader gratification. Readers can purchase your book and start reading it immediately. An eBook is portable. Readers take their phones and digital devices with them most places, so it is easy to carry around multiple digital books. eBooks are inexpensive to create, especially if you have already produced a print book. eBooks can contain live links. Include clickable URLs in your ebook. This allows you to direct your readAugust 2020 - Write-On News ers to your website, blog, and social media networks but also to any other external information source. eBooks can also contain other interactive elements: videos and animations, audio files and so on. eBooks can be revised and updated. Given how quickly nonfiction information changes, it’s essential to be able to keep your book current and accurate. Once you’ve updated your text, it’s quick and easy to republish your book. (Please note: This is also true of our Print-On-Demand model.) eBook copies can be given out for free. Digital files are easy and free to send to reviewers, readers, or anyone else to whom you want to provide a complimentary copy. eBook copies are low-cost marketing tools. Your book establishes your subject-matter expertise, and, once released, allows you to call yourself an author. eBooks have a flexible pricing strategy. As there are no printing costs associated with eBooks, you can experiment with different discount pricing strategies. eBooks are inexpensive to purchase. Readers who are reticent to buy a book at the higher paperback price, plus pay postage or courier fees, may be persuaded to invest in your book at the lower eBook price. 7
Coming Soon! The IndieBookshelf - your online directory and showcase for Self-published Books and Independent Authors! The Indie Bookshelf is an online preview catalogue of eBooks and print books by Self-published (“Indie”) authors. The Indie Bookshelf lets authors and writers : • List books on their very own Book Webpage • Let readers know who they are on their own Author Page • Let people know where the book is for sale and • Let potential readers to read and get a feel for their books by allowing them access to few pages or a chapter. read some of the content from inside the book. It allows potential book and eBook purchasers to: • Preview the inside of many different books, all at the one place; • Click through to view the websites for the book, publisher, author and more; • Click through to the author’s or publisher’s preferred selling option/s; • Find out where the book can be purchased from a store or online platform. Who can list with us? Any self-published author may list a book. This includes authors who have made use of publishing facilitators and non-traditional publishers. As long as you have the rights to market/sell your own book, you may list it on The Indie Bookshelf. There is a once-off author registration fee, and each book listing is subject to an annual listing fee. The author effectively gets a basic website for a nominal amount! No book sales are made from this site! Interested in finding out more? Click HERE. Affordable Full Colour Printing from POD Anyone who knows anything about printing is aware that colour printing is extremely expensive - a book printed in full colour throughout is easily 100 – 150% more expensive than a similar-sized book in black and white. The age of digital inkjet printing has changed that! Print on Demand, always on the forefront of digital printing technology, recently installed a full colour inkjet book printer and can now offer full colour printing at a premium of not more than about 20 – 25% over black and white. While not offering coffee table book quality, this method allows you to print your book with full colour pictures throughout at an extremely affordable price. Two of Write-On Publishing’s most recent releases, “Throw off the Bowlines” by Doug Sutherland and “Cock Tales on the Kowie” by Sue Gordon, were printed using this method and both authors are ecstatic about it the outcome. Our own book, “Do You Speak Catholic?”, was also printed using this method, and it has turned out beautifully. There is one proviso, though: the minimum print run is 100 copies. AUDIO BOOKS FROM DOD Have you ever wanted to turn your book into an audio book? Printi On Demand has also recently launched a new division called “Digital On Demand” (DOD) which is a fully equipped professional Video and Audio Production Studio. This studio can bring your book to life as a professionally produced audio book. It also has the capability to produce promo videos for your books. Contact us for more information on this great service. 59 Tom Brown Boulevard St Francis Bay, 6312 South Africa Cel: +27 61 485 5491 frank@writeonpublishing.co.za www.sacatholiconline.org www.writeonpublishing.co.za 8 August 2020 - Write-On News
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